Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1116

The air in the Tang Family hall became heavy with sadness. One loss could be bad luck. But losing again and again? There were no excuses for that.

The shock was like a cold stone in their stomachs. At first, they were too stunned to understand. But as they thought about the defeats, a bitter taste filled their mouths.

This serious mood got worse when the Young Lord called everyone important in the Tang Family together. It was clear that they were taking this defeat very seriously.

However, the Namgung Clan, not the Tang Family, was the most stressed group in the manor where the Cheonwu Alliance stayed.

Namgung Dowoon’s cheek twitched constantly. He can’t believe this happened. How will he face his ancestors?

Seeing his face, Namgung Dan looked down, trying not to make eye contact.

Who was Namgung Dowoon’s father?

It was Namgung Hwang. Just because Dowoon was Hwang’s son didn’t mean he was exactly like him. But usually, sons are a bit like their fathers, right?

Namgung Dan knew that Namgung Dowoon usually seemed reasonable, making you forget about Namgung Hwang. But a Namgung Dowoon with angry eyes could be even more impulsive than Namgung Hwang.

So, at times like this, you had to pretend to be invisible and stay quiet. If not, you might get destroyed completely.

‘He’s very angry,’ Namgung Dan thought.

And he had every right to be.

Namgung Dowoon had given up a lot to join the Cheonwu Alliance.

He had set aside his clan’s pride, his own self-respect, the family’s wealth, and even their reputation.

But there was something Namgung Dowoon could never give up.

“Not just anyone, but…”

“…”

“…to the *Sapa* (邪派), which are considered unorthodox or evil martial arts sects…”

Namgung Dowoon’s eyes twitched. Everyone looked down when they saw his face.

“If Father in heaven could see this…”

The thought made him shiver. He imagined Namgung Hwang, with blazing eyes, charging with his sword.

If the real Namgung Hwang had seen this, he would have stormed into the mortal world, even if it meant fighting King Yama. Whether that was possible or not didn’t matter.

Namgung Dowoon’s hands started to shake. The shock was huge. The shame and anger were so strong, they made his whole body tremble.

“How could the Namgung Clan…”

“Y-Young Lord! Don’t blame yourself so much! It’s not your fault!”

“Yes, Young Lord! It’s because we are weak!”

“Sob. I am sorry.”

It was like a funeral. This wasn’t just Namgung Dowoon’s problem.

Of course, the Green Forest wasn’t just any *Sapa*, and the Green Camp, their elite group, was strong. It might have been too much for the Namgung Clan, who had lost most of their strength.

But that was just the practical side. The Namgung Clan had been raised to believe they must never lose to the *Sapa* scum, even if it meant death. Their great pride was hurt.

“No, no. It’s all my fault.”

“Young Lord, it is not.”

“If Father, instead of me, had commanded you, would we have been crushed like this?”

Everyone was silent.

“It’s not just about swordsmanship. Even if Father’s skills were the same as mine, if he had led the Namgung, we would never have lost to the Green Forest.”

They couldn’t answer, not because they agreed. To agree would be to disrespect Namgung Dowoon, and to disagree would be to make Namgung Hwang seem weak. So, they stayed silent.

“Yes, I am not good enough now. The Namgung is not good enough. But…”

Namgung Dowoon’s eyes turned red.

“I will not let this happen. I will show them what the Namgung Clan is, and I will bring back the Namgung’s honor!”

“Yes, Young Lord!”

“You can do it!”

Namgung Dowoon nodded, seeing the cheering followers.

“But…”

“Yes?”

The followers flinched as Namgung Dowoon’s face changed slightly.

“I can’t do it alone, can I?”

Namgung Dowoon’s voice was sharp.

“Can I?”

“…I… I can, can’t I?”

“I’m not blaming you, but… I think everyone’s skills are a little… just a little… weak.”

“…”

“If your skills are weak, you have to train harder, right?”

“More training here?” one of the retainers thought.

We’re already training until we collapse! And he says it’s not enough?

“No, no.”

Namgung Dowoon shook his head.

“I’m not saying you’re lazy. But… since you can’t even beat those *Sapa*, shouldn’t you try a little harder? That’s all I’m saying.”

“…”

“What do you think?”

“…”

“Huh?”

“Th-That…”

Namgung Dan opened his mouth and looked back. Everyone was closing their eyes, looking defeated.

‘Damn it…’ Namgung Dan thought.

With Namgung Hwang’s name mentioned, how could they refuse?

“Do… as you wish.”

“Thank you!”

Namgung Dowoon jumped up.

“Since we’re talking about it, let’s go train right now!”

“Yes? R-Right now?”

“Is there a problem?”

“No… the injuries I got today are still…”

Everyone nodded and quietly agreed.

“My bones are aching…”

“My arm is numb…”

Everyone avoided eye contact. Namgung Dowoon stared at them and then looked away. He looked sadly at the night sky outside the window.

“Father must be watching…”

“…”

“The previous Clan Lord, who died in the Jang River, must be hoping we will bring back the Namgung’s glory…”

“Aargh, damn it! We’ll do it! What are you doing, you bastards! Let’s go! Let’s go train!”

“…Yes.”

“Ugh…”

Namgung Dowoon smiled as he watched them leave like cows being led to the slaughterhouse.

“Being sincere always works.”

Namgung Dowoon smiled, pleased with himself. But without realizing it, he was losing the respect of his followers, little by little.

“Haha! Green Forest King! Did you see their faces?”

“‘Prestigious clan,’ they bragged! Hahaha!”

“Ah, I feel like ten years of upset stomach is gone!”

The Green Forest bandits were very happy.

The Namgung Clan had always been their enemy. How many Green Forest bandits had suffered because of those Namgung Clan bastards?

Of course, it was mostly the Green Forest’s fault, but feeling good was feeling good.

Just beating those *Jeongpa* (正派), or orthodox martial arts clans, was enough to make them feel drunk, and the fact that those *Jeongpa* were the Namgung Clan made them feel even better.

“They’re nothing!”

“I told you I could crush them all if I went all out!”

“Heh heh. We could have beaten Namgung Hwang himself, even if he were still alive, eh?”

Just as they were getting carried away, a fan snapped shut.

The Green Forest bandits became silent, glancing at Im So-byeong’s face. He looked serious.

“Are you happy?”

“…”

“Are you happy, you bastards?”

Beon Chung stepped forward.

“Why are you upset? We crushed the Namgung Clan so badly they couldn’t even make a sound.”

“Crushed?”

Im So-byeong laughed.

“Does that look like someone who crushed someone? Or someone who got crushed?”

Some of the men turned red.

They had been celebrating, but their faces were a mess. They were swollen from the fighting.

“You idiots. You fought very hard against young kids and barely won, and now you’re celebrating like this.”

“S-Still, winning is winning…”

“What?”

When Im So-byeong narrowed his eyes, Beon Chung quickly lowered his head, looking scared.

“Tsk, tsk.”

Im So-byeong clicked his tongue, a small sound that showed he was very annoyed.

‘We almost lost.’

The reason they won that day was simple: the Namgung Clan wasn’t as strong as they used to be, and Im So-byeong was leading the Green Forest.

This also meant that if Im So-byeong hadn’t been in charge, they might have lost, even against the weakened Namgung Clan.

‘This is a problem.’

Im So-byeong groaned.

The Green Forest wasn’t strong because of a few powerful people. They were strong because they had so many members. So, some might not be too disappointed with the result.

But Im So-byeong knew this was just an excuse. It was also why the Green Forest, even though it was the oldest Demonic Sect (groups that are seen as bad or against the normal rules), had never become the leader of the Demonic Alliance.

“If things continue like this, we’d have trouble even beating the Namgung Clan. That means we’d be crushed by any of the other Demonic Alliance groups.”

“What are you saying! If all our brothers from everywhere come together, we can beat anyone!”

“Gather?”

Im So-byeong glared at Beon Chung like he was talking nonsense.

“Have those guys ever gathered in one place before?”

“Well, that’s…”

“How can you gather people scattered all over the Central Plains? It would take over a month just to send them a message.”

Beon Chung was silent.

He was right. The Green Forest had power in mountains everywhere, but because they were so spread out, it was almost impossible to move together.

“(Beon Chung thought, ‘But what if the mountain fortresses are attacked while everyone is gone?’) And… even if I give the order, will those guys really leave their mountain fortresses and rush over when I say so?”

“Of course! It’s the Green Forest King’s command!”

“Really?”

“…”

“Really?”

“Well… there might be problems if we leave the mountain fortresses for too long.”

“Eesh.”

Im So-byeong sighed deeply.

Before joining the Heavenly Union, he didn’t have the time to deal with all this. Just hiding from Jang Il-so, who was always waiting to attack, and taking care of his sick body used up all his energy. No matter how good his plans were, there were limits.

Now that he had solved one problem by joining the Heavenly Union, another big problem had appeared.

“First… the Green Forest isn’t really weak.”

“That’s obvious.”

“But it’s also very weak. There are many people, but not many useful fighters.”

“…”

“Even if you gather them, there are too many people, which makes them useless in small fights. The only thing we can do in a war is use our numbers to help with supplies.”

Im So-byeong muttered and looked around at everyone.

“What do you think?”

“Yes?”

“If there’s a problem, we have to fix it. Right?”

“Well, yes, but…”

“Luckily, I know how to fix this. It would be stupid to know the answer and not use it, right?”

“Um…”

Beon Chung asked carefully.

“Excuse me, but what’s the solution?”

Im So-byeong nodded, happy that he had been asked.

“It’s simple. First, we make our main fighters stronger. If the Green Camps become stronger, they’ll have more power, and then I’ll have more power over the Green Forest. Then, the whole Green Forest will work better, right?”

Beon Chung looked puzzled.

“Isn’t that what we’ve been doing? That’s why the Green Forest King…”

“No.”

Im So-byeong shook his finger back and forth.

“I thought we were doing it, but we weren’t. Because I was born into a Demonic Sect, I thought everyone just trained on their own.”

“…”

“But when I saw what the Mount Hua guys do, I realized this is something new. We could do it like that, so why haven’t we?”

“That’s because our way is…”

“Ah, don’t worry about that. What I decide is our way. Right?”

“…”

“And I think Mount Hua’s way is a bit weak too.”

“Yes?”

The Green Forest bandits opened their mouths in surprise and stared blankly at Im So-byeong. They wondered what nonsense he was going to say now.

“If you want to train for a real battle, you have to train like it’s a real battle. The people from the good groups are weak, so they’re just pretending because they’re afraid someone will die.”

“…”

“If someone is really serious, they have to be willing to make sacrifices. Right?”

“…”

“Heh heh heh. I can’t believe I’m competing with the Mount Hua Sword Saint in planning like this? I’ll show you what the Demonic Sect’s way is.”

The Green Forest bandits’ faces darkened.

The next morning.

“Hoo.”

Hyun Jong sighed deeply.

He had many worries, but even so, Hyun Jong looked very tired and worried. Dark circles were under his eyes, and he sighed deeply.

“This shouldn’t be happening…”

They didn’t plan to be in the Yangtze River.

They had planned to save the refugees and return to Shaanxi.

But the Demonic Cult suddenly appeared, which changed everything and forced them to stay there.

Hyun Jong didn’t think this was all bad.

The Heavenly Union members, including the Tang Clan, were staying together, so he thought it was a good chance to build friendship.

Yes, for friendship… for the sake of friendship.

But.

“How on earth…”

Instead of building friendship, it seemed like they were becoming more divided.

As the leader of the Heavenly Union, Hyun Jong was very worried.

“Keueung.”

Hyun Jong shook his head, remembering Chung Myung laughing happily.

That rascal might be doing things without thinking, but it wasn’t good for things to continue like this.

“This won’t do.”

He had to stop that rascal from causing more trouble. He decided to watch the training today and give Chung Myung a warning look.

But Hyun Jong was surprised when he arrived at the training grounds.

“Aaaaargh!”

“You Demonic Sect bastards!”

“You dog-like poison users!”

“You’re the real problem! You Mount Hua devils!”

“…”

Hyun Jong stared at the training grounds in shock.

There were no allies or enemies.

Mount Hua. Tang Clan. Namgung. Green Forest.

People from different groups were fighting each other, yelling and kicking up dust. It looked like a chaotic street fight, not a training session.

“Uh…”

Hyun Jong opened his mouth without meaning to.

“Dieeeee!”

Hyun Jong saw Dang So-so kick her own brother in the chin and closed his eyes.

This is hell.

“Oh. You guys already started on your own.”

“…”

Hyun Jong slowly turned to look at Chung Myung, who was walking confidently.

“Without being told. Good job. This is the reward of teaching! Reward!”

“…”

It seemed the Heavenly Union was doomed.